Gakuen Alice Spring Picnic
by Gentlewolf
Summary: It's the first warm Sunday in Spring. Find out what happens after the gang from GA decides to have a Picnic. What, Natsume disappeared? I bet he's just trying to avoid having to help clean up! Mikan, go find him will ya!


**Gakuen Alice:**

_Spring Picnic_

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My Entry for the GakuenAlice-Club's **Spring Contest** in DeviantArt.

Follows the Manga, taking place sometime in the near future after the current events with the Elementary School Principal have been resolved.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own **Gakuen Alice** or any of the characters that I have included in this fanfic. **Gakuen Alice** is the property of _Tachibana Higuchi_.

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"Mikan-chan, it was such a good idea to have a picnic today, the weather is so beautiful!" Nonoko said in excitement as she laid back on the ground and stared up at the branches of the tree, whose leaves were beginning to sprout back after it's long winter's sleep.

Mikan popped her last piece of octodog into her mouth and nodded her reply to Nonoko with a smile. "Thanks so much for making bento's for everyone, Anna-chan," Mikan spoke cheerfully after she swallowed her mouthful of fried hotdog.

"I couldn't have done it if it wasn't for Misaki senpai's help," Anna replied with a glance of gratitude in the direction where Misaki Harada sat trying to force Tsubasa to eat, even though his mouth was already stuffed. Mikan and Anna exchanged glances and giggled.

It was the first warm Sunday at Gakuen Alice since spring had sprung. Mikan had been anxious to get out and enjoy the weather. Her classmates and Senpai's were happy to support her idea of haveing a picnic.

The day was perfect. The sun shone brightly in the clear blue sky and warmed the day above the average temperature. The slightly cool breeze was the only reason for wearing a light jacket. Koko and Kitsuneme were a few yards away flying kites in the clearing with Luca, who was helping the four-year-old Youichi to fly his kite as well.

Hotaru sat against the trunk of a tree reading while Iinchou sat not far from her finishing off his bento and tring to engage her with making plans for the classes spring cleaning project.

"Where did Natsume-san go?" Sumire suddenly appeared behind Mikan and Anna to ask.

"He probably slipped away to avoid having to help clean up," Mochiage muttered bitterly. Sumire had suckered him into helping to gather up the empty bento boxes and, using his telekinesis alice, send them to the kitchen for Anna.

"I thought that he was over with Luca-pyon and Yo-chan," Mikan replied, adding her empty bento box to Mochiage's floating pile as it past infront of her.

"Well, obviously, he's not," Sumire complained. She stood with her hands on her hips staring into the direction where Luca was retrieving Youichi's kite after if had done a nose dive to the ground.

"I'll go find him," Mikan jumped up to say. Sumire eyed her suspiciously.

"Just be sure you bring him back to help clean up," Sumire told Mikan in warning.

Mikan laughed nervously in response to her friend. Sumire could find him easily with the help of her alice. Mikan wondered why Sumire didn't just do that rather then making Natsume's absence known to her. Ever since Natsume had indirectly confessed infront of the Elementary School Principal and the dangerous abilities class that he loved Mikan, it was assumed by everyone that they were a couple. Sumire's sudden wink brought a blush to Mikan's face when she realized that Sumire was trying to give her and Natsume some time to spend alone together. This was Sumire's way of telling Mikan to leave the clean up to her friends. Sumire had been making a lot of noise lately about Natsume officially asking Mikan to be his girlfriend. Mikan was sure that was the cause as to why Natsume seemed to be avoiding her for the past week.

"Leave it to me," Mikan said cheerfully and turned to head away from the group. Mikan had an idea of where he might be. The cherry blossoms were in bloom, and his favorite place to read his manga was underneath that cherry tree.

What if Natsume really did ask her to be his girlfriend? Mikan swallowed a lump that formed in her throat and slowed her pace. Sure, she was 12-years-old now. Everyone already considered them to be a couple, much like Tsubasa and Misaki senpai. What was the big deal about whether or not he actually asked her to be his girlfriend anyway?

Mikan froze in her tracks upon her next realization. What if Natsume was angry that everyone coupled them together. What if Natsume didn't love her anymore. The thought caused her to cross her arms over her chest defensively. She had wrestled with her true feelings for him throughout the past several months. She came to the decision that she liked him as more then a friend, but she wasn't so sure that she understood the concept of romantic love. It was so confusing. One minute you're happy, a moment later you're sad. He would tease her around their friends and then, for an instant, do something sweet that would make her mind spin and her heart feel like it might burst out of her chest.

Was that really what it meant to be in love with someone? She really couldn't say. It wasn't like she had any good role-models to learn about it from. Misaki senpai was always teasing Tsubasa senpai, and even though Misaki always denied being his girlfriend she was always with him. That was the extent of experiences that Mikan had to use as a reference.

She was sure that, with the exception of Luca perhaps, she probably knew Natsume better then anyone. If Natsume disappeared from the picnic then surely it was because he wanted to be alone. Perhaps Sumire, through good intentions, was being a little too pushy. Before Mikan realized where she was she considered turning around and returning to the picnic to help with the clean-up.

"Oi, Polka-dots, it took you long enough!" Mikan looked up in surprise at the sound of Natsume's voice. She had been wandering aimlessly while she was thinking and she suddenly found herself under the cherry tree. "What took you so long?" Natsume asked, jumping down from the branch on which he had been sitting. "Did the wind blow all of the thoughts out from between your ears? After all, it IS time for spring cleaning," he teased when he landed on his feet beside her.

Mikan thought for sure that her heart had stopped for a moment, and now it felt as though it was racing at the speed of light. She stood still, her eyes wide with that "deer in the headlights" kind of stare.

"Geez, you look like you've seen a ghost," Natsume teased, waving a hand infront of her face.

Mikan finally blinked and her eyes focused on his face. "You were waiting for me?" She asked quietly, in surprise.

"Isn't it obvious?" Natsume asked with a raised eyebrow as he straighted up and folded his hands behind his head.

"Oh? Well, I just thought that you might want to be alone," Mikan responded.

"Why would you think that?" Natsume inquired curiously.

Feeling the heat in her cheeks, Mikan quickly looked down at her feet and absentmindedly reached up to play with her ponytales. "Anou……I… don't know. Just…. You know….," she stammered over her thoughts.

With a shrug Natsume turned to move back towards the trunk of the tree. He then sat on the ground and leaned against it. He looked back to find Mikan still standing there, staring at the ground and pulling her ponytales back and forth under his nose. She was still muttering her answer to herself. He recognized her nerviousness, and could only guess as to what was causing it. Taking a deep breath to calm his own nerves he called to her, "Oi, are you just going to stand there?" She stopped her nervous twitch, with her hair under her nose like a mustache, and stared at him, startled. Natsume could barely resist teasing her again. He found it so fun to tease her. Her reactions never ceased to amuse him. Instead he patted the ground infront of him to motion for her to sit down.

Mikan stared at the spot infront of him and bit her bottom lip. Did she have to sit infront of him? Couldn't she just sit beside him or even on the other side of the tree? It would be much easier to hide her nervousness if she didn't have to face him. Releasing her ponytales she took a couple of shaky steps forward and sat facing him. The whole situation felt awkward to her. Probably because of the things that Sumire has been saying lately.

They both sat quietly for a long while. Natsume rested his head back against the trunk of the tree with his eyes closed. Mikan assumed that he was just enjoying the weather and eventually began to relax as well. She wore a jumper with leggings beneath her skirt and figured that she was at least safe from him making a comment about her underwear. Though she sat properly, it was better not to take any risks with Natsume, considering that something almost always seemed to happen that resulted with him making a comment about the color or patterns on her panties.

Mikan had just finally become relaxed and closed her eyes to enjoy the warmth of the sun on her back and the freshness of the springtime air. She released her thoughts from earlier with the gentle breeze and could now hear the songbirds singing overhead.

However, her reverie was suddenly broken when she felt a forcefull grip on her shoulders and could feel herself being pulled forward unexpectantly. Her cry of fright was muffled against something hard. She tried to push herself out of the solid hold as her eyes flew open in shock. Mikan found herself crushed against Natsume's shoulder and that he was holding her with a despirate sort of tension. She pushed again, against his chest, to try to release his grasp. "N…..Natsume?" She stuttered, fearful that something was terribly wrong.

"Shhhh," he whispered against her ear. The sound sent a shiver up her spine. She tried to push away from him again as her heart began to pound in her ears, or was it the pulse in his neck? She couldn't be sure. "Daisuki, I love you!" His voice came urgently and his breath was hot as it blew against her neck. His grip tightened around her shoulders. Mikan inhailed a sharp breath of surprise and stiffened. Had he just confessed? Sure, he had confessed before, but it hadn't been directly to her. Mustering up as much strength as she could manage she pushed against his chest again in the attempt to see his face.

"N….nani?" Mikan questioned, surprised to find that he willingly let her loose. She stared at him in disbelief. For a split second she thought that she could see a blush in his cheeks.

"Stupid, I just confessed to you," in an instant his demenor was back to normal, though his hands still rested on her shoulder. "So, how will you answer me?"

Mikan blinked rapidly. She was having a hard time believing what she had just heard. This was all so sudden, and she wasn't sure what to say. "W….wait…." she started to reply. "W…hat brought this up suddenly?" She stumbled over her words.

"What do you mean by suddenly? This came as a surprise to you?" Mikan felt his hands slide from her shoulders as he spoke, giving her enough room to adjust her position. He had completely pulled her into his lap. She know sat on her knees between his legs. Their closeness brought a flush to her cheeks.

"No," she answered quickly and began to fidget with her skirt. "It's just that….you seemed to be avoiding me lately."

Natsume took a deep breath. He was finding it very difficult to maintain his cool nature. He wasn't even sure of what he was doing. Yes, he loved her, but it wasn't like him to act on those feelings. "Permy will leave it be if we "make it official," he said, raising his hands to dramatise the quotation around "make it official," as he spoke.

Mikan was taken back by his words. She stared at him with wide eyed disbelief and clinched her skirt into her fists. "You are only doing this because of Sumire-chan?!" She spat angerly. Natsume raised an eyebrow at her sudden change in attitude. "Then your confession is false," she further accused and stood in a rush. "If you're doing it just to make Sumire-chan happy! What about what you want? What about what I want? Shouldn't that matter the most?" The words were flying out of her mouth in a rush. Natsume stared up at her with wide eyes of surprise as he listened to her.

Mikan spun around on her heals and prepared to walk away, as her anger was so great she felt that she had to move or else she might explode. She considered slapping him, but didn't think it would truly help. "Mikan, wait," she heard him say just before she took her first step. "Mikan, hold on a minute. Let me explain," he spoke in frustration. Mikan took the first step and prepared to take the second when he grabbed for her hand. "Mikan, wait," He spoke again, sounding more despirate. Before she could move any further she felt him pull her back down to the ground and in the next moment found herself laying there. His hand was at the back of her head, both acting as a cushion from the blow of her head against the ground, when he pushed her down to kneel over her so that she couldn't excape, and also acting to pull her closer as he was suddenly kissing her with a force that made her head spin. She pushed against his chest in a panic when she felt his tongue slide between her lips, with the attempt to push him off of her. She moaned against his mouth in protest.

Wrestling with her hands, he held them down beside her head and released her from his kiss. Mikan stared up at him with a wild fury. He straddled her legs so that she couldn't kick. "Now, are you going to listen to me?" He asked breathlessly.

Mikan struggled against his hold to no avail and let out a groan of frustration. "You are the most pig headed, stubborn girl that I know," Natsume complained, holding his position and waiting for her to stop struggling. "Will you please listen to me now?" he asked when she became still.

Mikan glared at him but waited for him to speak. "I do love you," he admitted again. "Surely you know that." Mikan's stare relaxed some. She knew that he had feelings for her. It was obvious. He could have any of a number of girls who belonged to his fanclub, but their affections annoyed him. He had confessed his feelings infront of the Elementary School Principal. He was always by her side, helping her and protecting her. "You know that I am not good about expressing my feelings," he continued to say. She knew that it was true, and understood that his teasing was his form of affection. Slowly she nodded and waited for what he would say next. "This isn't just because of Sumire. It is truly how I feel," he concluded and dared to release his hold on her wrists.

For a moment Mikan couldn't speak. She didn't know what to say. This was the most serious that she had seen him since he had told her that he wished he was an adult so that he could take her away from the Academy. She slowly reached up to lightly touch his face. His eyes beseached her for a reply. He was still straddled over her legs and leaning over her body, though his hands now rested to either side of her head. Unexpectingly Mikan flug her arms around his neck and pulled herself up against him. "Daisuki!" She muttered against his ear, despirately locking her grip around his neck.

Effortlessly Natsume pulled himself up, with Mikan hanging around his neck, and sat back against the tree to pull her into a sitting position between his legs. "Then it's official," he spoke against her hair. Mikan nodded, too afraid to move. She was sure that her heart would pound out of her chest and her stomach felt as if she had swallowed a dozen butterflies. Was this what it felt like to love? The seed that had been planted months ago, after his initial confession, had sprouted and was now beginning to bloom.


End file.
